Ok, so my recruiter told me at first that I couldn't be deployed from residency if I joined the Reserves and took STRAP and HPLRP. I told him that I wasn't interested in STRAP, just HPLRP. He said if that were the case, then I could technically be deployed while in residency and that STRAP protected me from that. I can't find any reference to this online. Is this indeed the case?

Moderator10+ Year Member

Ok, so my recruiter told me at first that I couldn't be deployed from residency if I joined the Reserves and took STRAP and HPLRP. I told him that I wasn't interested in STRAP, just HPLRP. He said if that were the case, then I could technically be deployed while in residency and that STRAP protected me from that. I can't find any reference to this online. Is this indeed the case?

Click to expand...

This is basically a logic problem. Either your recruiter is misinforming you or you are misunderstanding. Which is fair enough, it gets confusing.

You can not normally take HPLRP until you are board certified or board eligible. Also, in order to take it, you need to be in full drilling status with a Guard or Reserve unit. In other words, you are in a deployable status while in loan repayment (i.e.: taking HPLRP). Make sense?

I say "normally" because you can take HPLRP as a PGY3 or above, if you are also a) taking STRAP and b) in a specialty on the Army's critical warfare shortage list.

Make sense? So it's moot. You can't take HPLRP without STRAP as a resident. You can only take HPLRP without STRAP once you're done with residency and are deployable.

Thanks, it sounds like my best bet is to join during last year of residency so that the 8yr clock starts ticking, and just do the HPLR once I'm BE. The strap just doesn't make much sense to me. It's not much money for repayment on loans compared to the HPLR and it's 2:1 vs 1:1. I want to serve, but I'd like to have at least a small amount of control such as reverting to IRR status a few years down the road if I so chose. I want to serve, but I don't like feeling as if I'm being spun into a web of incentives to keep me active for the entire 8 years, although I might do it anyway... but I'd like that to be my choice.

This is basically a logic problem. Either your recruiter is misinforming you or you are misunderstanding. Which is fair enough, it gets confusing.

You can not normally take HPLRP until you are board certified or board eligible. Also, in order to take it, you need to be in full drilling status with a Guard or Reserve unit. In other words, you are in a deployable status while in loan repayment (i.e.: taking HPLRP). Make sense?

I say "normally" because you can take HPLRP as a PGY3 or above, if you are also a) taking STRAP and b) in a specialty on the Army's critical warfare shortage list.

Make sense? So it's moot. You can't take HPLRP without STRAP as a resident. You can only take HPLRP without STRAP once you're done with residency and are deployable.

Click to expand...

I got the impression that the recruiter is referring to joining the Guard while a resident without accepting any bonuses and then using HPLRP once he finished residency. It would give you some nominal benefits and drill-pay in residency and start the obligation clock counting down.

Without being enrolled in a formal program, he would technically be at risk of deployment but I have to think the odds are ridiculously low. The drill obligations and other hassles without the extra $24k/year would probably be a larger detriment...

Moderator10+ Year Member

I got the impression that the recruiter is referring to joining the Guard while a resident without accepting any bonuses and then using HPLRP once he finished residency. It would give you some nominal benefits and drill-pay in residency and start the obligation clock counting down.

Click to expand...

Ah, good point. I immediately thought he was talking about HPLRP during residency without STRAP, which unfortunately a lot of recruiters pitch.

So...I've analyzed this a billion different ways and I think the most financially prudent thing to do is wait and join as I finish residency, so I can skip STRAP and just use the HPLRP which gives me more control over how long I want to stay in the active AR, and allows me to pay on my loans faster. My loans are 7.5%, not 2.5%, so from the information that I've gathered, if I joined during residency...I'd be forced to take STRAP to be protected from deployment, 1.5yrs of strap is a 3yr commitment, and I can also take out at least 1 year of HPLR of 40K. The catch is that I have to pay back the STRAP immediately after residency FIRST, before I can take out any more HPLRP, so with 7.5% interest, it almost makes that first 40K payment cancel itself out from the debt interest I'd be accruing alone during those first 3 years when I would be most interested in paying as much as possible on my loans, military contributions and civilian contributions combined. I want to serve, otherwise I wouldn't be doing this but I think I owe it to myself to be as financially prudent as possible. So...if I wait till the end of residency, I can just jump straight into the HPLRP and active AR without having to worry about having to pay the STRAP back first. The STRAP really just doesn't make any sense to me. It would have made more sense if I were just starting residency, but I can moonlight now, enabling me to make much more per month than I ever would get from the STRAP, and without incurring a 2:1 payback for what I consider to be a fairly small financial incentive in the grand scheme of things. I want to serve in the military, but I don't want to be even more in debt while trying to do that. Anyway, thanks. This forum has been a helpful source of information.

Moderator10+ Year Member

Good call, Groove. I think STRAP and similar programs make sense really only for folks who are prior service and know they want to put in their 20 or folks who have little to no student loans. Good call....

Groove, as a Healthcare Recruiter for the Army, I think you made the right decision. The STRAP program is really only beneficial to someone just starting out. For your specific situation, the HPLRP is the better route.

Groove, as a Healthcare Recruiter for the Army, I think you made the right decision. The STRAP program is really only beneficial to someone just starting out. For your specific situation, the HPLRP is the better route.